Transcript Power Point Preliminary Defence

Does American hegemony in the
post-Cold War era create a safer
world than the bipolar world of the
Cold War?
What is Hegemony? Bipolarity?
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Hegemony in global politics is a
single superpower dominating global
politics, the United States being the
current hegemon since the end of
the Cold War (a single power =
unipolarity)
Bipolarity in global politics occurs
when two superpowers share global
power (i.e. Cold War)
Brief Overview
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the Cold War was the period of conflict,
tension and competition between the
United States and the Soviet Union and
their allies from the mid 1940s until the
early 1990s
crises that threatened to escalate into
world wars but never did: the Korean
War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the
Vietnam War
MAD- conventional military attacks on
adversaries were deterred by the
potential for massive destruction using
nuclear weapons
The Cold War ended in the late 80’s
and the Soviet Union was dissolved in
1991 leaving the US as the sole
superpower
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the post-Cold War era has the United
States spear-heading globalization with
an aggressive foreign policy
most notable and world changing
event: 9/11 (the first attack on
American soil since Pearl Harbour)
9/11 was the starting point for the
clash of civilizations between Islam and
the West –Iraq, anti-Americanism,
terrorism
nuclear proliferation – North Korea,
Iran
Questions
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Does American hegemony in the post-Cold War era
create a safer world than the bipolar world of the Cold
War?
How has the US been accelerating anti-Americanism in
the Middle East and worldwide?
Why did the United States invade Iraq?
Does the United States foreign policy breed antiAmericanism?
What factors contributed to 9/11?
Is the war in Iraq a clash of civilizations?
How does nuclear proliferation in the post-Cold War era
create a dangerous world?
Thesis
American hegemony in the post-Cold War era
creates a more perilous world than the bipolar
world of the Cold War due to a clash between
civilizations, unipolar globalization, and
global terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Arguments
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Conflict between civilizations (instead
of conflict between ideals), the West
vs. the Middle East
Unipolar globalization, or
globalization spear-headed by a
single hegemon, the United States
Global terrorism and nuclear
proliferation, including rogue states
and nuclear terrorism
American hegemony in the post-Cold War era creates a more perilous world than the bipolar
world of the Cold War due to a clash between civilizations, unipolar globalization, and
global terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Argument 1: clash/conflict between civilizations
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Differences in civilization are far more basic and
unchangeable than differences in ideologies (i.e. Soviets can
adopt democracy, but Russians cannot become Americans)
While the west is at the peak of its power, non-western
civilizations are becoming more and more non-westernized to
the point where they resist or challenge western hegemony
Despite America’s attempts to westernize/democratize the
Islamic Civilization, hostilities only increase –inherit hostility
between civilizations
Cold War world allowed the civilizations who opposed
westernization to be kept in check by the Soviet Union
American hegemony in the post-Cold War era creates a more perilous world than the bipolar
world of the Cold War due to a clash between civilizations, unipolar globalization, and
global terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Argument 2: unipolar globalization
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Difference between globalization now and globalization in
the Cold War: globalization is superimposed onto a world
with a single superpower
Single power not able to deal with all problems- multipolar
world could have enough super powers to deal with all
global problems
With global connectivity to only a single power, those states
that cannot enter the network become partially failed states
and resort to a black market economy (Afghanistan under
Taliban) –multipolar world could effectively allow connection
for such states
Countries that oppose the single hegemon will be forced to
go rogue since they cannot side with an opposing
superpower (North Korea)
American hegemony in the post-Cold War era creates a more perilous world than the bipolar
world of the Cold War due to a clash between civilizations, unipolar globalization, and
global terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Argument 3: global terrorism and nuclear proliferation
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Global terrorism in the post-Cold War era is a
significant problem, with another attack
inevitably coming. -9/11 only beginning
Number of terrorist attacks in 2005: 11 111, 4x
the number in 2004 -3500 of those occurred in
Iraq alone
Nuclear proliferation in the post-Cold War era
necessity for any states opposed to US (no more
MAD)
• states no longer protected by Russia’s nuclear umbrella
are forced to dissuade the United States from using
conventional force by using nuclear weapons
• potential for rogue states faced with economic sanctions
to sell nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations
Counter Arguments
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Hatred existed between communism and
democracy that fuelled conflict
Bipolar rivalry led to a global struggle that
could have escalated into another world
war, and led to many dangerous proxy
wars resulting in the arming of many
dangerous states
Nuclear proliferation was dangerously high
during the Cold War with both powers
stock piling huge arsenals; the Cuban
Missile Crisis also nearly led to a nuclear
war.
Works Cited
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Frum, David. "Who Wins in Iraq? 4. Samuel Huntington." Foreign Policy
(2007).
Gaddis, John L. "Setting Right a Dangerous World." The Chronicle Review
(2002): B7.
Glasser, Susan B. Washington Post. 27 Apr. 2005. 19 Mar. 2007
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601623.html>.
Huntington, Samuel P. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs 72.3
(1993).
Mishra, Rajesh Kumar. “Nuclear Terrorism: Potential threats in the post
cold war world.” South Asia Analysis Group. 11 May 2001. 26 Feb.
2007 <http://www.saag.org/papers4/paper354.html>
Weber, Steven et al. "How Globalization Went Bad." Foreign Policy (2007).
Weber, Steven., and Ely Ratner. Los Angeles Times. 21 Jan. 2007. 19 Mar.
2007<http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/
suncommentary/la-op-weber21jan21,1,4564919.story?coll=laheadlines-suncomment&ctrack=1&cset=true>.
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